Wildflowers
by aye davanita
Summary: 16-year-old Rory Hayden is sent to boarding school. Jess, Tristan, and others await her, ready to turn her life upside down. Literati, with Trory undertones.
1. Time To Move On

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Story: _Wildflowers_

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Author: LitJJAiken

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Summary: AU Literati with Trory undertones. Rory Hayden is sent to boarding school; Jess, Tristan, and others await her.

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Rating: PG-13 for now. May change to R later on, so be forewarned.

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Chapter Title: _Time To Move On_

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Disclaimer: I have nothing. "Nothing" includes _Gilmore Girls_ and my rock god Tom Petty's "Time To Move On."

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A/N: I am not done with/abandoning "The Intern and Her Baby-sitter." I just had this idea the other day, and I wanted to start it. I hope you like it.

Thanks to Summer, Loz, Katherine, and Lauren for putting up with me. Big thanks to Joan for the aforementioned reason and for betaing the story at 1:00 in the morning. Also thanks to Chris, because _When She Cries_ really inspires me. 

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"Time to move on, time to get going

What lies ahead I have no way of knowing

But under my feet, baby, grass is growing

It's time to move on, time to get going."

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The gates of Burke Academy loomed before Rory Hayden, the unknown and quite possibly dreadful nature of her future lying beyond them. Those gates would separate her from the world she knew. They would integrate her into a small society of rich, well-educated teenagers not unlike herself, but at the same time different from her in every way.

Rory's father released his hand from the steering wheel for a moment. "So here we are," Christopher said. "Burke Academy."

"Here we are," Rory echoed. She and her father had never been much for conversation, at least with each other. There had always been a wall between them, and she believed that wall was the absence of her mother. Lorelai had left when Rory was three -- Christopher had been left with a trust fund, a daughter, and a sense of cluelessness as to how to raise her.

Rory thought about how she had grown up. Christopher had conceded at the age of nineteen, after Lorelai left, and joined his father's business, so money was never an issue. She had been provided with endless clothes, toys, books, and a nanny named Kate who moved out when Rory turned twelve.

And now she was sixteen, being sent to live in boarding school because her father had gotten married. He married a makeup marketer named Sherry who, while she didn't express it, did not want Rory around. Christopher obliged Sherry's unspoken but omnipresent wish; he enrolled Rory in a Massachusetts boarding school.

Now, sitting in front of the aforementioned school, Rory felt resentment well up inside her. She didn't deserve to be sent away -- she had been a good kid, she made excellent grades and never got into trouble. Then Sherry came along and decimated her life.

Rory spoke finally. "Why don't you drive me in?"

Christopher looked at her. "Sweetie, I know you're not thrilled about this."

She answered, "Just drive me in. Please."

Christopher sighed. He drove up to the guard at the gate.

"Christopher Hayden, sir," he said.

The guard opened the gate for them -- he had been told ahead of time that they were coming.

Rory glanced around the campus. There were many kids aged thirteen to eighteen lounging around. They didn't go past eighteen, because once kids reached that age, they realized that they didn't have to stay at boarding school. They could leave and finish out the rest of their lives, usually unhappily and with so much pent-up resentment directed at their parents that they could barely carry on a relationship. However, they hadn't become jaded yet, and right now the kids were talking and laughing, and Rory wondered how they could appear so happy here -- how they were so content removed from the rest of the world.

"This is nice," Christopher remarked.

"Heaven on earth," Rory muttered absently. She was even surprised at the words and the tone in which she had said them; she was usually not exceedingly sarcastic. Had she the influence of her mother, maybe she would have been different; but in Lorelai's absence, Christopher had lost any sense of humor he might have previously possessed, thus draining Rory of any sarcastic humor she might have been destined to acquire.

Christopher stopped the car outside of the second building they came upon. He got out and removed her suitcases from the trunk.

Rory stepped out into the fresh air. The building was very imposing; she craned her neck looking up at it.

"Only the best for you," Christopher said.

Wrong choice of words. "Right," Rory answered. "Thanks for putting so much thought into my banishment. I appreciate it."

Christopher looked at her and decided to give up. He carried her suitcase into the building.

Rory stood back for a moment, feeling the curious glances on her. In a boarding school, she thought every arrival of a new student boarder must be a big event. She was correct in this line of thinking -- they were, by their standards, so cut off from the outside world that anyone fresh from it was interesting to them.

She looked at the building and, out of the corner of her eye, the students for a moment more before she entered the front hall. 

Rory was looking at her new home for the rest of her secondary school career. A place with uncomfortable-looking chairs, conceited-looking girls, and humorless-looking adults sparsely scattered in the hall.

She hoped the word "looking" was the operative one in these thoughts -- otherwise, she didn't know how she would survive it.


	2. To Find A Friend

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Story: _Wilflowers_

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Author: LitJJAiken

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Summary: AU Literati with Trory undertones. Rory Hayden is sent to boarding school; Jess, Tristan, and others await her.

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Rating: PG-13 for now. May be changed to R later, so be forewarned.

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Chapter Title: _To Find A Friend_

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Disclaimer: I have nothing. "Nothing" includes _Gilmore Girls_ and Tom Petty's "To Find A Friend."

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A/N: Well, I've certainly been a crappy updater. I'm sorry about that; I promise I wasn't just holding it for reviews. School's been hectic, but soon it's out and I can devote a lot more time to writing.

Thanks as always to Loz, Katherine, Helen, Summer, Joan, and Lauren at the ORG for being so great. 

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Everything changed, then changed again/

It's hard to find a friend

It's hard to find a friend

Room 218. Rory stood before the door, debating when to open it. If she opened it immediately, she would end the anticipation. If she waited, she would prolong facing the roommate waiting for her.

Christopher had left already, after Rory had made it clear to him that he was not welcome. She didn't like herself around him. She became irritable and bitchy, which was not in her nature.

After standing idly for a moment, the English teacher accompanying her, Mrs. Robbins, pushed on the handle and the door swung open.

Lying on the bed closest to the door was a blonde, petite girl with an open textbook in front of her. She looked up and smiled at Rory. "Hi," she said in a slightly too perky way. "I'm Cassie." She jumped up and reached out to shake Rory's hand.

Rory shook it and smiled back, though a little weaker than Cassie. "Hello," she said. "My name's Rory." She dragged two of her suitcases into the room.

Mrs. Robbins set Rory's remaining suitcase by the vacant bed. "Okay, Rory. Cassie's your new roommate, she'll be showing you around campus. She can also answer any questions you might have about Burke. I think I'll leave you under her care now."

"Thank you for your help," Rory told her politely.

"You're welcome," Mrs. Robbins answered with a small smile. She exited the room and shut the door.

"So, Rory," Cassie began. "Tell me about yourself."

"Well," she said, sitting down gingerly on the bed she assumed was hers. "I'm Rory Gilmore from Hartford, Connecticut. Um . . ." She was at a loss for words, not for the first time in her mild life.

"What do you like to do?" Cassie prompted. She settled back onto her bed.

"Oh. Well, I like to read and I want to be a journalist one day."

"What kind of journalist?"

"Overseas correspondent." 

"Oh, fun!" Cassie exclaimed. "I want to be a lawyer."

Rory wrinkled her nose. "I would hate all that paperwork. I want to be out doing things, learning as I do my work."

Cassie shrugged. "I want to help people. I want to put criminals away."

"That's good," Rory said.

"Yeah, I want to go to Harvard for undergrad and grad school," Cassie said. "That's why you'll rarely see me without a book." She gestured to the text at her feet.

"I want to go to Princeton," Rory said. "I've sort of been pressured to go there since I was a baby. My father's family's been going there forever, with the notable exception of my father."

"What about your mother?"

Rory paused. "I don't have a mother."

A guilty look came over Cassie's face. "Oh. I'm sorry."

"Don't feel bad about bringing it up," Rory said with a shrug. "I'm used to it by now. She left a long time ago."

Cassie didn't seem to know what to say after that.

"So I guess you were studying when I rudely interrupted you," Rory said.

"Oh, you weren't rude!" Cassie exclaimed. "I was expecting you sometime today."

"Well, I think I'll let you get back to it," Rory said politely. "I can go take a walk around the campus. Explore a little bit."

"Do you want me to go with you?" Cassie asked. "I can show you around."

"No thanks," Rory said. "No offense, but I sort of just want to take a walk by myself right now."

Cassie nodded. "Okay. I understand." She picked up her book. "Just be back here around six and we can go to dinner together."

Rory said, "Sounds good." She stood up and walked out the door.

As she walked down the stairs, she thought about her first impression of Cassie. She seemed a little pushy, but nice nonetheless. Rory guessed they would get along fairly well.

She walked out of the building and turned left. She really had no clue where she was going, but she didn't really care. She just wanted to walk.


	3. You Don't Know How It Feels

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Story: _Wildflowers _  
**Author: **_LitJJAiken _  
**Summary: **AU Literati with Trory undertones. Rory Hayden is sent to boarding school; Jess, Tristan, and others await her.   
**Rating: **PG-13   
**Chapter Title: **_You Don't Know How It Feels _  
**Disclaimer: **I'm sick of these things. We all know no one posting fics on this site owns or is affiliated with _Gilmore Girls _, and that includes me. And I could never write the genius lyrics to Tom Petty's "You Don't Know How It Feels."   
**A/N: **Okay, I've been an awful updater. Again. But I swear that will change now that school's out. I solemnly swear to have the next chapter up next week. So . . . please stick with this even though the first few chapters have come slowly.   
Loz, Lauren, Katherine, Helen, and Summer -- y'all know you're the greatest by now. Joan, you're included in that list and you get your own sentence for being a great beta. And to Angeleyez as well, 'cause you're so supportive of my fics.   


  


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"People come, people go   
_Some grow young, some grow cold . . . _

I woke up in between   
_A memory and a dream . . ." _  
  


  
  
A couple hours later, Rory continued to walk leisurely down the sidewalk of campus. She paused every now and then to examine a building or to watch people joking and playing around. Since it was Saturday, most of the students seemed to just be hanging out together. It was just like her old school, Chilton, except at Chilton students could go down to a restaurant or a store on a moment's whim. They weren't confined to the campus.   


As she continued her walk, she stopped near a bench. On the bench was a boy whose back was the only part of him Rory could see. He had curly black hair and appeared to be of medium height. But what she noticed before she even glanced at his hair was that he held a book in his hand. She felt pulled toward the bench.   


Rory walked past him indiscreetly, trying to peek at the title of the book he was reading. _The Godfather _.   


"I love that book," she thought out loud. The boy looked up. Rory saw clearly why he would be reading _The Godfather _. His features strongly suggested Italian ancestry.   


"You do?" he asked. His voice was smooth but sexy at the same time.   


"Yeah, it's one of my favorites," she admitted. "I don't tell many people that, it seems to detract from the image of me only reading 'great literature.'"   
  


"And what do you and the people around you consider to be great literature?"   
  


"Oh, you know. Jane Austen. Vladimir Nabokov. Charles Dickens," Rory recited. "Your standard, overanalyzed, over-studied great literature." She moved closer to the bench. "What do you consider to be great literature?"   
  


He asked, "Why do you assume that I even read a lot? Just because the first time you meet me I'm reading . . ."   
  


"If you didn't love reading, why would you be sitting here reading on a beautiful Saturday afternoon? There's plenty of other things you could be doing. You could be talking to people, playing football, doing homework --"   
  


He interrupted her. "First, I'm not exactly a social butterfly. Second, I'm most definitely not an athlete. Third, I couldn't care less about school. I'm here because my parents paid for that building you see over there to be built." He pointed across the street to a large building that Rory assumed was used for classes. No one was going in or out of it.   


"Well, then I guess your only other alternative is reading," Rory said. They sat for a moment. "What's your name?"   
  


"Jess Mariano," he answered, looking straight ahead. Yep, definitely Italian.   


"Nice name," she said. She waited for him to ask her name, but he didn't. "I'm Rory Hayden. I'm new here."   
  


"Congratulations," he muttered. He looked as though he really just wanted to sit and read, but Rory persisted. She might actually be able to connect with someone at this school. She loved to sit and talk books with people, and maybe he would be someone she could do that with. No matter how much he denied it, she could tell he was an avid reader by the way he had seemed so engrossed in his book.   


"So you don't like school at all?" she asked. Jess finally turned and looked at her. It was the first time he had really looked at her. Rory saw his face transform a bit. It seemed to soften and his eyes got . . . intense. She felt her own eyes widen for a split second, and then they got normal again.   


"It's just not for me. Why, you a straight-A student?" he asked, still a little gruffly. "First in your class at your old school?"   
  


"Straight A's, yes," Rory admitted. "First in the class, no. That honor goes to Paris Geller, the most neurotic, obsessive sixteen-year-old you could ever imagine. She deserves to be number one. I work hard, but I could never imagine working that hard."   
  


"They're just grades," Jess said. "Why do you care so much?"   
  


"College," she answered automatically. "Do you not plan on attending?"   
  


"Nope," he answered. "I'm only at this private school because I'm forced to be here. If it were up to me, I'd be in a public school in the heart of New York City. As soon as I turn eighteen, I'm out of here."   
  


"Before you even graduate?" Rory asked incredulously. "Why go through all this just to bail at the last minute?"   
  


He shrugged. "If I have the option to leave, why stay for a longer period of time just to complete something that has no meaning for me? I really don't care about school. I think I can get along without it."   
  


"What exactly do you plan to do without a high school diploma?" Rory asked curiously.   


He shrugged. "I'll be a professional reader."   
  


She giggled. "Like an editor?"   
  


"No, like a professional reader." He had a small smirk on his face, but other than that he looked completely serious. "What, you think I couldn't find a job in that field?"   
  


Rory giggled. Wow. Giggled. She didn't think she had done that in months, and she surely hadn't expected to do much of it while at Burke Academy. "I don't know, I guess if you search hard enough you can find anything."   
  


Jess smirked again. "An optimist, I see."   
  


"No, don't get the wrong idea. I'm completely pessimistic. I was just trying to say something to make you feel better about the fact that without a high school diploma, there's not a whole lot you can do," Rory said.   


He nodded. "I prefer hearing things straight up, if you don't mind."   
  


Rory nodded as well. "I'll remember that."   
  


He simply looked at her. She averted her eyes after a moment. There was something about him that was so intense. Rory realized it was his eyes. His eyes were boring into hers, and even though she had just met him a few minutes ago and he wasn't the most friendly person she had ever encountered, she felt as though those eyes were windows straight into his soul. They were brown pools with more depth than she had ever seen in such a small space in her life. Yet she didn't really understand what was going on in them.   


"Well," she stammered. "I should probably go back. I've been gone for a couple of hours now, and I told my roommate I'd be back to go eat with her."   
  


"Okay," Jess said. God, that voice of his.   


"Um, I guess I'll see you around then," Rory said. She stood up. "It was nice talking to you."   
  


He simply nodded. Somehow she knew that meant the feeling was mutual, and she smiled.   


"Bye, then." Rory turned and began walking in the opposite direction. She heard him say the same to her.   


There was something about Jess Mariano that Rory intuitively liked. She hoped she would see him around campus again. With that thought, she smiled to herself and continued back to her dorm room to meet Cassie for dinner.


	4. Don't Fade On Me

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Story: _Wildflowers_

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Author: LitJJAiken

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Rating: PG-13

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Chapter Title: _Don't Fade On Me_

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Summary: AU Literati with Trory undertones. Rory Hayden is sent to boarding school; Jess, Tristan, and others await her.

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Disclaimer: I have nothing. Who on this site does have anything? I don't own _Gilmore Girls _and I don't own Tom Petty's "Don't Fade On Me." 

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A/N: I. Am. So. Sorry. My computer was unplugged for a week and a half, and I had half of this written, so I couldn't handwrite it while I was gone. Please forgive me. I've learned my lesson -- don't make updating promises.

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Dedication: To Joan, for being a great beta and a great person to have a hate-on-Dawson-Leery session with. Everyone go read her story _Everything's Changing_. 

Also have to shout out to Loz (perverts and pedophiles, oh my), Lauren, Hellie, Katherine -- obsessive fanatics rock (so do honorary OFs). To Summer -- if you all haven't read _Drain the Glass, _go read it. 

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"Was it love that took you under?

Or did you know too much?

Was it something you could picture?

But never quite could touch?"

"So over there are the cheerleaders," Cassie babbled on. "I'm not really sure what they cheer for, since we're not the most athletically focused school in the country. But they seem to like wearing the skirts." 

Rory felt as though she were in the first scene of _10 Things I Hate About You_, where Michael explained the school's social hierarchy to Cameron. Cassie had pointed out to her the jocks, the nerds, and now the cheerleaders. She wondered when they would get to sit down. Her plate was beginning to weigh her down.

Finally, a blessed empty table appeared. Rory inwardly breathed a sigh of relief. 

Cassie sat down at the end of the table. Rory was tempted to take the other end, but that would have been unnecessarily rude, so she sat Cassie's left.

Cassie gestured toward her own plate. "It may look bad, but it's really not. It's not your average public school cafeteria food."

Rory was about to reply when a blonde guy came up behind Cassie and snaked his arms around her neck. He had a mischievous look on his face. Cassie, however, didn't seem to want to join in the fun.

"Tristan, stop," she muttered. "Go away." 

"Why?" he asked. "I'm just playing around." He looked up and gazed in Rory's direction. "Aren't you going to introduce me to your friend?"

Cassie sighed. "Tristan, Rory, Rory, Tristan," she said quietly. "Now you know her name, leave us alone and go . . . I don't know, go do whatever it is you do on Saturday nights."

"Well, you should know what I do on Saturday nights," he said suggestively. 

Rory was trying to appear nonchalant, but she couldn't help it. She wondered what their obviously past-tense relationship was. They definitely seemed tense around each other -- well, Cassie did anyway. From the few seconds she had spent with him, Rory could conclude that Tristan didn't get nervous around anyone.

"Tristan, do you get some sort of perverse pleasure out of torturing me?" Cassie asked. Rory could tell she was struggling to keep from crying. Her voice was breaking in places. 

"I'm not torturing you," Tristan said. He finally removed his arms from her neck and sat on the seat to her right, across from Rory. "I'm just trying to get you to talk to me without that desperate note in your voice, like you're trying to figure out the fastest way to run from me."

"What can I say, you make me want to run," Cassie said. "What exactly do you want to talk about?"

"Well, you could maybe try and acquaint me with Rory here," Tristan said, jerking his head in Rory's direction. Rory sent him a saccharine smile.

"Rory's my new roommate," Cassie said grudgingly. "She's a junior here. Look, Tristan, you've gotten what you wanted, you've annoyed me for the day, now can't you just go hang out with someone else?" 

"Well, does Rory want me to leave?" he asked.

Rory just looked at him.

"Well, I'll take that as you're not saying no," Tristan concluded. "So . . . where are you from?"

Rory sighed. Maybe if she just answered a few questions he'd get bored and move on. "Hartford. Connecticut."

He actually seemed surprised. "Really? That's where I'm from. The DuGreys of Hartford."

Rory nearly choked on her water. "DuGrey?" she exclaimed once she had swallowed the water. "No way. I would know you if you were a DuGrey."

Tristan shrugged. "Well, I'm here most of the year, and rest of the time I don't really do the whole high society function thing. As long as I don't outright embarrass my parents, they don't really care." Cassie scoffed obtrusively at this. He ignored her and looked at Rory curiously. "What's your last name?"

"Hayden. My dad's of the Haydens. My mom is . . . er, was, of the Gilmores."

His eyes widened. "Really? Richard Gilmore? My grandfather does business with him." Another look of realization came across his face. "So your mom is Lorelai Gilmore?"

Rory looked down at her plate. "Um, yeah."

"Sorry," he said hastily. "I mean, I didn't mean to --"

"It's okay," she interrupted. "Really. How do you know about her anyway?"

"Oh, even though I don't show myself in public, and I live here, I do occasionally talk to my parents. There's no more interesting topic to them than a piece of gossip that's sixteen years old."

Rory laughed uncomfortably. Then, she finally noticed that Cassie looked slightly annoyed. She decided to involve the other girl in the conversation. "So, how do you two know each other?" 

As soon as she asked the question, she wished she hadn't. They looked very uncomfortable. Rory inferred that they must have dated at one time or another. It surprised her. Cassie seemed to be straitlaced and focused, and Tristan seemed to be . . . well, a bit of an asshole. Then again, he came from Hartford high society. Being an asshole was practically a prerequisite. 

"Um, we dated for a while," Cassie muttered.

"Yeah, until you broke it off," Tristan said. Rory swore she could detect a note of hurt in his voice.

Cassie glared at him. "That's not how it happened and you know it."

Just when Rory's interest was guiltily piqued, Tristan slid his chair back from the table and stood. "Right. Well, I'm not really interested in rehashing the sordid details of our angst-ridden relationship right this second. It was nice meeting you, Rory. Maybe we'll have a class together." He turned away and casually strolled toward a group of guys that Rory assumed were his friends.

"So . . ." Rory said gently. She didn't want to seem insensitive. "Do you want to talk about it?"

"Nope," Cassie said sullenly. She stared into space for a moment, and then spooned some mashed potatoes into her mouth. And contrary to the way she'd acted all day, she didn't say one more word to Rory during the meal.


End file.
